The men later left the motorbike parked neatly beside the police box on the bustling Phra Metta Rd.
The alarm was raised by Anan Detruang, who reported to police yesterday (Jan 4) that his motorbike had been stolen from in front of his unnamed barber shop on Nanai Rd.
“Mr Anan said that he had left the key in the motorbike. When he came out, his motorbike was gone. So he checked the CCTV for the building and saw that two foreigners had turned up outside his shop (at about 9:41pm),” explained Col Somsak Thongklieng of the Patong Police.
One of the men got on the bike and casually rode off, without wearing a helmet.
Police soon found the motorbike parked by the police box at the southern end of Phra Metta Rd, Col Somsak said.
“So I went and locked the wheel of the motorbike so it could not be stolen again, and I fetched Mr Anan so he could collect it,” he added.
Police tried to track down where the two foreign joyriders went, but the trail soon went cold, he added.
“These two broke the law, and Mr Anan is lucky to get his motorbike back,” Col Somsak said.